Boxer's Revenge | Jester King Brewery

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Thanks again to poetryandbeer for the huge Jester King box. Boxer's Revenge pours completely opaque; sunburst orange around the edges, with a deeper and more dense brown-ish color towards the core. The three-quarter inch head fades to a chunky layer pretty quickly and leaves a merely spot or two of lacing near the top of the glass on the way down. Kind of an ugly beer, but you know the story of the ugly duckling.

The first whiff reveals a nice, complex bout of tart and funk, layered with various things such as wet hay, apple skins, wine-like booze, oak, lactic acid, grapes, and many other fruits which are kind of hard to exactly pinpoint. Definitely a lot going on here, almost too much to get a firm handle on, even. Nice tartness from the fruit and a good, wet-blanket sort of funkiness from the yeast that seem to balance nicely.

Jester King tastes similar to how it smells, but it also tastes quite heavy, or at least heavier than most wild ales I've had. And by heavy, I mean it tastes "big". It's got a strong booziness that warms up over time and gets even stronger, and it sits pretty heavily on your guts. It wasn't until after the first few sips that Mike and I looked at the bottle and realized it was 10.2% ABV... I guess that explains it.

The flavor profile is very similar to the aroma, coming through hard with apple skins, tropical fruits, grapes, lactic acidity, some mild wine-like vinegar, oak, wet hay, musty barnyard, and a dry, white wine-like finish. The booziness is mostly akin to a heavy wine, although there are some very faint whiskey tones that tend to bounce in and out. Pretty heavily bodied for a wild ale. Thick and robust mouth feel with medium-high carbonation.

Pretty tasty wild ale with a tartness that wasn't overboard and a funkiness that wasn't too crazy either. Just a nice blend of the two that's sure to please any fan of the style. I will say, the heaviness of the booze eventually started to take a toll on my palate; this beer would be difficult to drink in large quantities. Luckily, I had someone to split it with, but even a 12 oz pour was quite a bit. Good beer, but better in smaller quantities for sure.

On tap - well actually out of a pitcher - at the brewery's grand opening celebration.

The beer pours an orange color with a white head. The aroma is very heavy on the orange, yeast and mangos. The aroma is very strong and is very inviting.

The flavor is more of the same. In addition to some spiciness from the yeast, I get some white pepper, wheat and orange. The beer is very dry. Even though the beer is brewed with two kinds of Brettanomyces, I don't get much, if any, funk from the beer. That being said, the alcohol is very well hidden and the beer is dangerously drinkable.